Thread: Soaps: necessary? Will household types work?

Originally Posted by rippy

Talk about fast, quality responses!

I think what I'll do is check the local stores next time I'm out and see what's available before I go ahead and find anything online (and get a razor etc along with it).

Also, I'm curious as to the difference between the low-end soaps some have recommended and a shaving cream, i.e. the stuff in an aerosol can I generally associate with safety razors. Any differences a newbie like me would notice? I have some at home, and it lathers up and such and works fine with a safety razor.

The goo in a can has two things wrong from the start.

One is that it is just goo in a can.... (most make me
sneeze). YMMV...

The other issue that is very important. You can grab
the can slather the goo and try and shave. i.e. Way
too easy to rush the shave.

The process of cleaning your face, building a rich shave
lather and then shaving takes time and softening whiskers
also takes time. It is key to shaving the hard to shave face.

Try this.... splash some cool water on your face.
Grab that can of goo and look at it for 30 boring seconds.
Splash a little more cool-warm water on your face
Stare at that can of goo for another 30-40 boring seconds
another splash and then apply a small blob of goo to you other hand
and rub on your face. Does it smell boring? I think so. Grab an inexpensive shave
brush and lightly scrub your face lifting those whiskers up just a bit.
Rinse and apply another blob of goo then after a total of two or three
min shave. My gentle wager is that your shave will improve by a lot
but still be boring.

Now try the same sort of trick with a fine lathering shave
soap. You get a much wider range of fragrances
from none to OMG.... They seem to self time
the shave prep. They are also compounded to improve
the glide of a razor... If you read the latest razor junk
mail they have special glide strips... because the
goo in the can does not glide as well as a well made
classic shave soap lather...

OMG can be subtle and full of joy like Mitchell's wool fat soap,
or have an in your face punch. It can be pleasantly odd like Tobac,
it might have a hint of rose like Cella or spicy with menthol
and eucalyptus rich like Proraso. Burts Bee's shave soap
is full of in your face spices, cloves, bay, cinnamon that
it has a home here for Christmass and Thanksgiving. Our
sponsors have many more choices... read about them.

Do not get me wrong the goo in a can works. In fact it is OK for a lot
of folk - it is however BORING as heck, to me.

A nice selection of German, English, Italian and American
shave soaps and creams -- well just the spice of life. I am
a fan of the venerable brands. They are still made and sold because
they are simply "made right" for shaving, men and yes women
that like men.

You sound kind of like me. When I started with a str8, if someone would have asked me why I wanted to shave with one, I would have answered a question with a question....Why does a man climb a mountain?! LOL! Seriously though, I found myself wanting to go the practicle route. I've been using the Williams mug soap since I started and am perfectly happy with it. $1.00 per puck and lasts a couple of months for me. The one thing you will probably want to spend a little extra on is a good strop. I like the Red Latigo I got from SRD. My brush is a $15.00 Tweezerman badger hair I ordered online and am happy with it too except, my bristles just fell out after a year. I'll be able to glue them back in though. BTW: Just like gugi said, you should be able to pick up the Williams at most pharmacies and some grocery stores.

Hope this helps, good luck & happy shaving!

Originally Posted by Ryan82

snip...

there are the "budget" soaps: Williams, Van der Hagen, Proraso, Wilkinsons, etc. Out of those I'd recommend Proraso.

I finally got some new Williams. I was surprised at how good it was for the cost.

--Shoki

Originally Posted by Soilarch

(Don't tell the guys...they like their "fancy" soaps...although I have to admit I'll be trying a new Christmas present tomorrow morning)

A+...

I have been know to use a dab of body wash with Arko and it make a nice lather along with excellent glide for the blade...

Right now what I'm using isn't working to well... That will go into another thread...

Let me begin by saying, forgive me, but I'm a bit of a soap snob.

Most (usually all) of the soaps on drug store, supermarket and mega mart shelves are not true soaps but rather detergents. Look at the ingrediants for your bar soaps, hand soaps, body washes, shampoos even toothpaste. They usually contain some form of sodium laureth sulfate. Even the high-end stuff. That chemical is a degreaser and a foaming agent. Remember "Zestfully clean?" The reason it left no residue in the shower and rinsed clean off your skin, so your skin felt squeaky clean, is because it is made mostly of cheap detergent. The degreaser strips all the oils off your skin. Trouble is your skin needs oils to be healthy. That and there is much discussion and debate going on as to the safety of using those chemicals (and the chemicals used in fragrances) on the skin, because by applying them to the skin, they are absorbed into the body. But thats another thread.

So a good soap will clean off the dirty oils from your skin, but will leave behind clean, healthy oils to replenish/moisturize your skin. I make my own soap (real soap) and have for years now. My recipe does just that. Cleans but leaves behind oils to make your skin soft and nourished, even in winter when the skin on my hands would normally crack and bleed and my knees and elbows would get all flaky and itchy. I have also found that the oils in my soap make for a nice slick shave and don't dry out my face either.

So having said all of that, I'm not sure how well a standard soap will perform as a shave soap. If it is slick enough, it may dry out your face if you don't treat it with something else like a heavier aftershave lotion or something. But the only way to find out is to try it. As for the foam in a can, well in addition to my rant about chemicals, I agree with what has been said already about losing a part of the straight razor experience if you go that route.

my 10 cents worth

My 2 cents:

If you are moving from electric to straight, you are also going to moving from chore to enjoyment. Whipping up a nice lather out of a quality shaving soap is one of the pleasures of shaving, and you would be shorting yourself if you did not at least try that part of the experience. You can find decent shaving soaps and brushes for very reasonale prices, or super expensive prices. IMHO, you should not go for the cheepest, as you won't really get a good experience with them.

Secondly, some people don't lather up at all, but shave with water only. I would not recommend starting this way, as good technique is more important when shaving like this. It is something you may want to experiment with once you once you have straight shaving down.

I just got some soap at cvs for $1 and a septic pen for $4

Haha, well I think I'm sold. Time to do some thorough reading of the guides/FAQs.

I'll probably only be using it on weekends anyway, since there's no way I can convince my mother of the sanity of this venture until I can just whip it out and do a decent shave (I'm a student still living at home and I share the bathroom in the mornings :P)

Again, thanks for all the tips!

Originally Posted by gugi

You don't 'need' specialty soaps, or soaps at all, or even water for that matter, you can cut the whiskers dry.

The question is how tough your skin is, and how much you value it. Water is most important, then 'regular' soap would work but not very well, and then you can use something that's more suitable for shaving, with or without brush. It's all a matter of personal taste and choice.

+1 on the above ,the least expensive way would be to go the BEARD route.